Monkey Shoulder
by PiscesChikk
Summary: AU Crossover. Contains characters from Person of Interest, Sleepy Hollow and The Flash. Joss Carter, Abbie Mills and Iris West all meet in a bar. A few drinks brings laughs, games and a whole lot of fun.


A/N After talking to different fans of the shows, this idea was tossed around. How would these three women interact in a relaxed setting and what would they talk about? Hope you enjoy this short tale.

*Disclaimer ~~ I don't own any of the shows or characters mentioned here.

* * *

><p>Joss Carter walked into Paddy's Pub and sat at the bar. It had been a long day, a long evening, and to ensure that her night wasn't even longer she decided a drink would be a good idea. A strong drink.<p>

"What can I get ya?" The bartender was cute, tall, and his baby blues stared back at her as he waited for her to order. She cocked her head to the side gazing back at him.

"You got any *Monkey Shoulder?" she asked. He smiled and nodded. "Gimme a *Brass Monkey."

When the tumbler was put before her she raised it to her lips, feeling the soft taste and texture of the premium scotch whiskey go down her throat. She took a glance around the place sitting sideways on the bar stool. The usual crowd wasn't there, a few people were scattered about in booths and at tables, but what caught her eye was a young girl sitting at a table alone with a laptop open in front of her. She looked like she was in her early twenties, had long black hair and a light brown complexion. She seemed out of place in Paddy's. It wasn't the environment for quiet or concentration if that's what you were looking for. She looked at the glass of beer beside the girl, it'd gone flat, and most likely had sat there for a long time untouched.

"Please tell me that that is not work that you're doing over there," Carter said, getting her attention.

A sheepish grin came to her full mouth and she shrugged. "It's my dissertation I'm working on. I need noise around me to concentrate believe it or not."

"I believe you," Carter said. "I have a son who plays loud music whenever he's studying. I don't know how he can hear himself think. But he brings home good grades, so it must be working."

The young lady laughed. "Let me buy you a drink. That beer didn't seem to do the trick," Carter offered, and waved to the bartender. The young lady tucked her laptop into its case and joined her at the bar.

"I suppose I could have something a little stronger," she admitted, and held out her hand. "Iris West."

"Joss Carter. Nice to meet you. Let me guess…guy trouble?"

Iris downed a little of her drink and nodded. "Something like that. I'm dating this guy, who's wonderful and sweet, but for some reason my best friend who I've known since forever doesn't get along with him."

"Sounds like he's jealous."

"Barry? Jealous of Eddie? No way. Barry's been almost…almost like a…"

"A brother to you?" Carter said, finishing for her, and nodded her head. "I've heard that one before. You know each other's secrets, your likes and dislikes, you tell each other about your dreams."

"But…"

"You care about him so much, he cares about you, but…you two have just never gone…there."

"How do you…?"

"Like I said - been there, done that."

"Well what about you? You're in here tonight all on your own. But you don't have to tell me, and I don't have to guess either. What's his name?"

Carter sighed, thinking of Reese and the boneheaded move he'd pulled earlier. She should be used to him barging in on her cases whenever he felt like it, but she wasn't. And tonight she felt as if she was moving to the end of her rope as far as he was concerned.

"Bane of my existence," she muttered under her breath. It was a nickname Fusco had used for him in the past. She never thought she'd use it until now.

"Huh?" Iris asked, looking puzzled.

"John. His name is John."

"And do you love him?"

Carter glared at Iris who was now sitting up, hand perched under her chin, and suddenly she detested her perky tone of voice. Or maybe it was the question she posed that she found so annoying. What kind of a question was that? _Did she love him?_

"Love him? No, we're not…we're not even…"

"Friends?" Iris smiled wide. "Right," she said, folding her arms in front of her. "The look on your face and that little knot between your brows tells me that there's something going on there whether you want to admit it or not. And I'm thinking you're just not ready to admit it."

It was one thing to insinuate that something was going on between her and Reese, Carter thought, but that smug look on her face coupled with the thoughts and feelings she was conjuring up were unwelcome. She sounded so satisfied with uncovering what she thought was the truth.

"Is he sweet, gentle at times, a little overprotective?"

Now it was her turn to ask. "How did you know?"

Iris shrugged. "Sounds just like my dad."

"But he can be so stubborn, reckless, and…downright infuriating," Carter admitted.

"I was right! You do love him."

"Ugh, please. No talk about love right now. I've heard enough about _true love_ to last myself for two lifetimes."

Both of them turned around, staring at a short woman with dark brown hair that fanned her shoulders. She walked toward them unzipping her jacket and Carter saw the flash of a gun in a holster fastened to her hip.

"Relax," she said putting her hand up. "I'm a Lieutenant in the Sheriff's Department in Sleepy Hollow. Name's Abbie Mills. And what I _need_ is a drink. Right now."

"I'm Joss Carter, this is Iris West. You want something heavy Lieutenant?" Carter asked.

"Please," she responded. "And do me a favour? Just Abbie, not Lieutenant. I don't wanna be _Lieutenant_ right now.

Carter turned to the bartender. "Brass Monkeys for all the ladies, honey. So what's your story?" she asked Abbie.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try us," Iris said.

"I've been partners with this…_older guy_ for a few months now. Our work environment has been kinda unnatural, obstacles like you would not believe, and on top of that we've got his wife in the picture too."

"Uh oh," Iris said.

"Take it from me," Carter said with a tilt of her head. "You don't wanna be the other woman."

"I'm not. Not really. And for a while she was a non-issue, but she's just come back from…out of town."

"So they were separated?" Carter asked.

"That would be one way to put it," Abbie replied.

"And now she wants him back?" Iris asked. "Well how does he feel about her being back in the picture?"

"Crane is…"

"His name is Crane?" Iris asked.

"Ichabod Crane," Abbie said. "I mean…to tell you the truth, I'm not sure how he's feeling right now. I mean we have a connection, we care about each other, he's important to me."

"Is he, now?"Carter asked. Abbie's face practically lit up as she spoke about this man.

"Yes," Abbie admitted. "And he's important to our work. And her coming back brings a certain tension to the whole situation that we'd never even anticipated. I mean of course they have a history, a long one, but she was secretive about so many things."

"So he can't realistically trust her. Not like he did before. That's going to be a weird situation to navigate. And working with someone closely can become complicated. You share things that you can't share with anyone else. You confide in each other, you develop a certain level of trust that kind of ties you together in a way that you can't even describe."

"Tell me about it," said Abbie, and downed the scotch in her glass. "This is good. Another," she said to the bartender. "You sound like you know exactly what I'm talkin' about, Joss."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to. All that talk about partnership and trust, and having a bond. I'd say you were in love."

"She is. She's in love with John."

"Iris, I hardly think you're the expert on love when you're in denial about what you feel about Barry."

"And the truth really comes out," Abbie said, taking a drink from her fresh glass of scotch.

"There is no truth to come out anywhere." Carter shook her head at her and laughed.

"As Ichabod would say, methinks the lady doth protest too much," said Abbie, and laughed too.

"Laugh all you want, but Eddie is my boyfriend, and he's kind, he's handsome, he's-"

"He's not Barry." Carter's words seemed to give Iris pause, and although she began to protest, she bent her head realizing that it was in fact, true.

"No. He's definitely not Barry."

"Well, so what exactly are we going to do?" Abbie said, her voluminous eyes staring back at the both of them.

Carter wasn't sure what she'd do about the unique connection she had with John. But Iris was right; she wasn't ready to think about it just yet either. She, Abbie, and Iris all faced a dilemma in their personal lives, but coming here to Paddy's tonight was supposed to be about forgetting it all. She didn't want to be stuck with thoughts of things she couldn't yet change.

"Let me tell you what we're going to do. We're going to get drunk, play some darts, and forget all about Barry, Ichabod, and John." Carter drank the last of her scotch and headed for the dartboard. "Come on, ladies."

An hour and a few more rounds later, and Carter's and Abbie's jackets were off. Iris' laptop sat forgotten atop their table in the booth they'd moved to. Carter felt comfortable in her tank top, and had let her hair down. It felt good to laugh, it felt good to have fun and forget about the impossible situations she got in every day with John Reese. Abbie was beating them at darts, with Iris not too far behind.

"Come on, I'll give you a shot at the title if you want it," Abbie said, and the grin that was on her face was infectious.

"Oh you know I want it. And I'm gonna win it this time, Lieutenant," Carter replied.

"Wait, wait, wait, before this rematch takes place, I think a next round of drinks is in order," Iris chimed in.

"Monkey Shoulder!" they all exclaimed together, all looking at the bar. The bartender raised his fist in answer, and they gave a shout of laughter.

"Coming right up ladies!"

"I think that you ladies have had enough for one night."

The hair on Carter's arms stood up and goose bumps formed. That voice, so low and raspy was unmistakable. She turned her head slowly.

"Says who?" Abbie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I say, Lieutenant," Ichabod replied, his hands clasped behind his back. "It seems you ladies are much too heavily in your cups at the moment. You could do with a little reprieve."

"You're not the boss of her," Iris said. "Or any of us for that matter."

Carter huddled closely together along with Iris and Abbie, all of them defiant, none of them particularly in the mood to entertain present company. She eyed Reese who stared back at her just as intently.

"Joss, you've had enough, and don't forget you have a son to go home to." He came to stand right in front of her, and suddenly all the defiance drained from her body, replaced with something else that had been woken up by Iris' words earlier. "Come on, let me take you home."

"John, I…"

"So this is John?" For the second time this evening Carter wanted to wipe the smile from Iris' face.

"We've heard so much about you," Abbie said.

"Lieutenant, we have a few things to discuss," Ichabod said, and Carter noticed his raised eyebrow and his attire that looked like he'd just stepped out of the pages of a worn history book.

"Abbie isn't going anywhere. You guys are."

"Iris, come on. You know this isn't you," Barry said. Carter thought he looked so young and innocent, sweet and adoring. He practically had hearts in his eyes when he was looking at Iris. It was ridiculous that she couldn't see how badly this guy had it for her.

"Barry, we're having fun tonight. And no, none of us are leaving, unless of course you guys are planning on staying."

Abbie grabbed her coat, shrugging into it, and looked at both Carter and Iris. "Ladies, I know a place we can head to over on 25th. This place is getting a bit crowded."

She headed for the exit while Ichabod called after her. Carter turned to the bartender. "Jake, these guys will be picking up the tab."

"Joss," Reese's voice was so soft; Carter was almost tempted to stay.

"I'm sorry, John. But we're leaving. Come on, Iris."

"Bye, Barry," Iris said, grabbing her laptop and she scurried past her shocked _friend_.

"What the hell just happened?" Reese asked, as he watched the three of them file out without another word.

"I have no idea," Barry answered.

"I am even more confounded than the two of you."

"Well, as long as we're here," Reese said, walking towards the bar. "We might as well have a drink. Which brings me to the next question, Barry. Are you even 21?"

* * *

><p>AN *Monkey Shoulder, a premium scotch whiskey

*Brass Monkey 50ml of Monkey Shoulder and loads of ice.


End file.
